Picasso

From the front flap of this 740-page book: "I'f you become a soldier', Picasso's mother once predicted to her son Pablo, 'you will be a general. If you become a monk, you will be Pope'. Neither prophecy came true. Many years later, when asked to describe his profession, Picasso replied: 'I wanted to be a painter, and I became Picasso.' Nowadays no one would dispute the fact that Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was the preeminent artist of the 20th century. He has rightly been called the genius of his age. The work of this Spanish artist defies conventional categories. In scale and creative versatility it is the richest oeuvre in art history. There would be no point in publishing another new study of Picasso if it were not different from the near 5,000 others that have been published worldwide. This book attempts to map out Picasso's entire output, in painting and drawings, etchings and lithographs, sculptures and ceramics - from his precocious boyhood beginnings in Malaga to the late work by the old savage of Mougins. Author Carston-Peter Warncke follows Picasso from his days as an art student in Corunna to the revered old age of a world-famous master. He places a particular emphasis on recurring themes and formal strands in the oeuvre, coming to new and interesting conclusions. 740 pages, with 962 full-color and 474 black and white illustrations. The 60 pages of appendices include a detailed chronology of Picasso's life with 177 illustrations, bibliography, notes and index. This book is the definitive introduction to the scope and range of Picasso's work."